Hmmm, don't mind answering but I suggest you start an "Ask Tim" thread. Don't want to derail here and I get enough questions like this to warrant such a thread.I'll be happy to pin it to the top discussions.

Thanks MF!- Tim

You asked for it, Tim, so here it is. You may regret this later.

QUOTE

If you don't mind my asking, what is your process when you start a drawing? What steps do you go through to get to the finished product? Don't want you to give away any secrets or anything, just curious. It's okay if you don't want to tell all.

We all know your bread and butter is photography based, but before that do you sketch out any ideas of what you want? I imagine quite a bit of ideas are come up with during the photo shoots, just curious if you come into them with a lot game plan?

Also... Where are the bodies buried?

"There's two types of people, Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. YOU DIG."

Which I actually didn't know until I read that today. But what about the henchman in the back row immediately to his left? Is that Jane too? Are we getting two Janes for the price of one?

I'll take this one real quick before I have to run out the door -

Yes, that's Jane And from left to right -James Phillips, John Hiemerdinger (also known as the Hard Luck Hit man, from Vertigo's GANGLAND), Terry Fitts, Tim Daley, Jane, Jane, Martin Hartzold, David Gobble, and Scott Harben

Yes, that's Jane And from left to right -James Phillips, John Hiemerdinger (also known as the Hard Luck Hit man, from Vertigo's GANGLAND), Terry Fitts, Tim Daley, Jane, Jane, Martin Hartzold, David Gobble, and Scott Harben

- TB

Thanks for the answer, that's been bugging me pretty much since that issue came out!

Hope you enjoyed Emerald City Con over the weekend!

"There's two types of people, Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. YOU DIG."

I just picked up my copies of Cage Noir, and I noticed the cover for #1 the Apollo was changed. I'm guessing it was because of the year (though I could be wrong). I've always wondered how in cases like these, how do you go about changing that part of the image?

If you don't mind my asking, what is your process when you start a drawing? What steps do you go through to get to the finished product? Don't want you to give away any secrets or anything, just curious. It's okay if you don't want to tell all.

MF - As fate would have it, I address this very issue in the first part of a recent interview.You've actually already read it, but for the uninitiated, the link to that is HERE

We all know your bread and butter is photography based, but before that do you sketch out any ideas of what you want? I imagine quite a bit of ideas are come up with during the photo shoots, just curious if you come into them with a lot game plan?

Also... Where are the bodies buried?

I still sketch concepts and ideas out, but not as much as I used to.Reason for that is two-fold; one, email VS fax. I usually compose my rough key art in photoshop, and that is closer to the final than a pencil or ink sketch would be.So I start there more often then not. When fax was the only way to send concepts fast for approval it required the sketching phase. With email I can send ANY digital image for approval and sometimes it's something as simple as a quick shot taken with a digital camera to show someone my intent. The approval rounds are 9 times out of 10 more ambitious than a quick pic but my point is I don't need to provide a physical sketch at all if I don't want to. Sometimes a sketch just feels right though

Second, after so many covers and compositions I like to freeform much more these days. Even when I sketch I have a preconceived initial idea. Taking that idea into a shoot is actually more efficient for me than sketching it up. It saves a step and the results are the same except maybe I'm not so tied to the sketch when I freeform. Freeform = freeing

There are no bodies left to be buried. I have wild bores rooting around behind my house

Since you mentioned The Emerald City Comicon, I thought of a few questions.

-What's your favorite part about going to conventions?The answer is a neck and neck tie between interacting/meeting the fans, and interacting/hanging out with artists and peers, my friends in the industry.Palmiotti, Niles, Bermejo, Jusko, Azzarello, Jock, Allcock, Wrightson, Bill Stout . . . I rarely get to hang out with my favorite people in the industry, so I relish each time.

-Do you have favorite conventions that you prefer over others? If so, which ones do you enjoy most and why?My be all end all favorite used to be San Diego. I'm not sure if it's not the same now cause I live here or not. Mostly it's fallen in stature for me because it's gotten SO BIG.I can go a whole weekend without seeing people I REALLY want to see. That and Artist Alley is now shoved way back into the armpit of the show. I think that sucks.My favorite shows are -> Long Beach Comicon (close to home and run very efficiently), Emerald City Comic Con (Just did my first one and it was a splendid experience), Phoenix Comic Con (smaller but excellent attention to guests, great fans), Chicago Comic Con (It's near back home where i come from and I have lots of friends there)4 Cons I'd LOVE to do --> WonderCon (Oakland), Heroes Con (Charlotte, NC), Reed NYC Comicon, C2E2 (Chicago).

-Out of all of the conventions you've attended so far, what was your most memorable moment at one?It would have to be San Diego Comicon in '95 when I witnessed Frank Frazetta walking past the area I was standing in. He was with two other fellas, they were walking him around the show. That would have been cool enough, there was the living legend in the flesh. But the absolutely astonishing thing about this was that surrounding Frank, as he walked past, was a massive sphere of silence, or low mutterings. I've never witnessed something like that before. People were just standing there whispering "There's Frazetta", or "Oh my God, it's Frazetta". The "sphere of quiet" was bizarre in this GIANT room filled with white noise. It was almost a vacuum of sound following this guy around, the opposite of sound in a room full of SOUND! It was like a 100 yard in diameter absence of sound with Frazetta at the epicenter. All I could say at the time was . . . "uhhh, WOW".

Thanks for answering my questions about conventions, Tim. And I bet your friends enjoy seeing you, as well. I'm glad you get to find the time to hang with other artists. It's nice spending time with your peers.

You must've been to many conventions. You're so lucky. I haven't even been to one. Pretty sad, huh? They're just never in my area. The closest one to me would be the Chicago Comic Con, and it's not even that close.So you prefer smaller conventions to big ones? Might I suggest you spend time at comic book shops? Do you do signings at comic book shops? If not, you should. There's a great one close to my home. Why not stop by?

I love how you appreciate your fans so much. I bet there are people who go to these conventions because they have to. But it seems you actually enjoy going.

I'm glad Emerald City Comic Con was a success. That means it's one more you'll do every year, right?

It's kind of funny that you've been starstruck. To me, you're the legend who would silence a room by your presence.

Why didn't you appear at this year's C2E2 in Chicago in April? I had VIP passes for the whole weekend and brought my niece who wants to get into this biz. She's only 16 but she's a great artist so far! She had a blast but I was disappointed you weren't there...

I ended up on IMDb today, and got to reading some of the trivia for The Punisher, and it said the original cut of it was nearly 3-hours long. I was just wondering if you have an info on that, any extra bits of violence that were cut out etc...

Why didn't you appear at this year's C2E2 in Chicago in April? I had VIP passes for the whole weekend and brought my niece who wants to get into this biz. She's only 16 but she's a great artist so far! She had a blast but I was disappointed you weren't there...

Would have loved to, Chicago is my old stomping grounds.Generally if you check around the boards you can readily find out what conventions I'm doing, as with Famous Monsters Maybe I can meet your niece next year. I should be a guest at C2E2 in 2011 if all goes according to plan.